Scribes and Widows

Presented at County Line Brethren Church on November 8, 2009.
Year B, Proper 27
Scripture passages: Hebrews 9:24-28 & Mark 12:38-44

When we read this passage about the widow dropping a couple of copper coins into the plate at the temple, we often think that it is certainly going to be a sermon on stewardship. It is easy to go in that direction. I might start out like this.

The vast difference between the scribes who put in large sums of money and the widow who only put in a penny is being seen around our country today. There are few times in your nation's history that the difference between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is so vast as to be incomprehensible.

Time magazine highlighted this difference in their recent issue on November 9, 2009. Here are some things I learned. Prior to the stock market crash of 1929, the average income, adjusted for inflation, for the top 0.01% was about 8 million dollars a year. Over the next 5 decades, it hovered between 3 and 7 million dollars a year. Over the past 3 decades the trend has exploded upwards, such that by 2007, the average income for the top 0.01% of wage earners in the USA is 35 million dollars. We are not talking about people with the most assets. We are talking about how much people earn in a year's time. To put it a different way, the top 1 out of every 10,000 people in the USA earn an average of $673,076 every single week! Some of those people are certainly our beloved sports stars (football, basketball, and baseball).

I read recently that Mel Gibson has donated $37 million to his own personal church. I'm sure the church was happy about that. I wonder if someone dramatically less fluent that Mel dropped a few bucks into the plate – even though that person had other needs to attend to. I doubt Mel is going to miss that money.

I also think of people like Bill and Melinda Gates who have given millions and millions to fight global problems. I doubt that Bill and Melinda will miss that money. Then I think of my mother-in-law, Evelyn, who consistently sends money to several organizations every month. She has only a little money coming in to pay her bills, and yet she faithfully writes checks to organizations. She is giving out of her need rather than out of her abundance.

And then this sermon on stewardship would say something like, we need to give out of our need instead of out of our abundance. Come on now, let's all give like it hurts! The only way to know how much to give is by whether it is hurting or not. If it is not hurting, you are not giving enough. Only when you are in financial distress because of your giving can you be satisfied that you are giving enough. Oh, and by the way, the proper place for your giving is into the church's treasury. I almost forgot that important piece.

That's a hardball stewardship sermon. The problem is that Jesus was not really saying this. This would be an example of poor hermeneutics.

Let's dig in and see if we can learn something new from this passage.

One of the first things to notice is that Jesus is emphasizing contrast. On the one hand, you have the scribes. On the other hand, you have a widow. And rather than focusing on what we know historically about the scribes or about widows of the day, let's look initially at the contrasts that are set up in the passage itself.

The scribes are identified as follows:
They like to walk around in long robes.
They like to be greeted with respect in public.
They like to have the best seats in the synagogue.
They like to have places of honor at banquets.
They devour widows' houses for financial gain.
They say long prayers to impress other people.
They contribute large sums into the church treasury.
Their contribution, though large, was from their abundance.

Now here is the contrast as the passage describes the widow.
The widow is poor.
The widow put two small copper coins into the treasury, which is about the worth of a penny.
The widow's contribution, though small, was all that she had to live on.

It seems important to note that Jesus, in his assessment of the situation, is pointing out the contrast between the two. But why is he emphasizing the contrast. Is he holding up the widow as someone we should emulate? Is Jesus trying to say that we should all be poor? Is Jesus trying to say that we should always give till it hurts?

Perhaps you caught it. Perhaps you have an idea. Perhaps you noticed an important clue in the beginning of the passage.

Do you remember in English class, as well as in writing and composition, or maybe in speech class, that it is helpful for the audience if you give them some kind of clue in the beginning about the theme of the essay or speech?

What is the first expression that Jesus uses, at least in our English version? It may be “beware” or “watch out”. What are we to beware of? We are to beware of the scribes. Pay close attention to this. As much as some may prefer to make this passage about the widow, Jesus' focus here is primarily on the scribes – and how we are to avoid the trappings of this elitist group of people. The widow certainly makes for a better, feel-good, Hollywood portrayal. However, Jesus is more concerned about warning his followers about the scribes. One of the main purposes of the widow is to provide a clear contrast with the self-serving scribes.

Jesus encounters the widow as he simply sits down to watch people make their contributions to the treasury of the temple. He observes the scribes making sizable donations. And then along comes this poor widow. Not just any widow, but a poor widow.

Now regarding this widow of contrast, there are a couple of interesting points to be made. First, the widow is contributing to an unjust religious system that both encouraged the scribal abuses of taking possession of widows' houses and benefited from this outrageous practice. Briefly put another way, the widow was contributing to the same tainted organization that a) stood by silent while many widows were forced into poverty and b) collected large sums of money from the very same people that had absconded with the widows' houses. Put in a more positive manner, the widow was faithful to the God even when the religious organization was disregarding God's law.

Here's another interesting point regarding the widow's gift. In the verses immediately following, Jesus says that the physical temple, as a symbol of the corrupt temple system, would soon be destroyed. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Wow! We learn here that the widow is contributing to a doomed cause! She is certainly not aware of this. And yet, the widow continues to be faithful.

So we find that the widow is faithful to God in her contribution to the temple, despite its corruption and impending demise. This will be helpful to us, but only when it set in proper context as a contrast with the scribes. For the scribes also gave to this corrupt and doomed organization, not as victims of its abuse but as benefactors.

As we have discussed recently, we would be wise to consider the larger context as we try to understand this passage. What's going on in the book of Mark at this time? Jesus is marching on his way to Jerusalem. Why is Jesus marching to Jerusalem? To offer himself as a sacrifice for many who do not deserve it. Jesus is ready to offer all that he has for those who would run from him. Jesus is ready, and will give his life for the world, which stood in rebellion against God in the first century, and continues to rebel against God to this day. Jesus did not give out of his abundance, like the scribes. Jesus was proceeding undeterred to Golgotha, to restore everything to its proper place under heaven.

That offers a stark contrast to the scribes, who were all about themselves. Despite those scribes who were undoubtedly faithful, the scribes were identified by the general public in just the same way that Jesus described them. They were self-serving scoundrels. They were all about appearances. The clothes, the long prayers, and deep pockets made deeper by taking advantage of others. Instead of protecting the poor, the widows and the vulnerable, the scribes and the temple system lived off of them.

The first and foremost message Jesus would have us receive is “don't be like the stereotypical scribe.” That person is completely opposed to what a disciple of Jesus is all about.

Let me also say that contrary to what you have heard, this passage is not a passage against riches. It is also not a passage against long prayers. It is not a passage against wearing nice clothes. It is a passage against the 3 P's: pretense, privilege and plundering.

A disciple of Jesus is not a pretender. It is not about the show. It is not about what looks best. It is not about the jewelry, the fancy clothes, the nice cars, or the nice house. One of Jesus' predominant themes is about how those homes and people are frequently rotten inside. In another passage, Jesus refers to them as white-washed tombs. Pretty on the outside, but full of dead men's bones inside.

A disciple of Jesus does not claim special privilege. They do not draw attention to their position or demand respect of name or status. A disciple of Jesus is not trying to impress other people with their knowledge or who they had dinner with last week.

A disciple of Jesus is also not a plunderer of other's possessions. There is a lot of plundering going on today. Exceedingly high interest rates on credit cards is called usury and is denounced by the scripture. Finding loopholes to foreclose on homes is simply legal stealing. Forcing families into bankruptcy by denying further health coverage when they get sick is immoral. Oh yeh, there is a lot of plundering going on these days, and it should be shunned by disciples of Jesus.

The purpose of the widow is to show how utterly perverted is the faith of the scribes. The other purpose of the widow is to point us toward Jesus. The widow points us to those qualities demonstrated by Jesus at the cross. The widow embodies the characteristics of a real disciple of Jesus.

A disciple of Jesus gives all of themselves to those people or causes who some deem unworthy, undeserving, doomed to fail, and/or completely and pervasively flawed. {repeat this}

That's a pretty tall order isn't it? All of a sudden, this passage is a lot more than putting more money in the offering plate.

Why do disciples of Jesus do this? The simple answer is that this is exactly what Jesus did, by going to the cross for us and the world. Romans 5 says that while we were powerless, sinners and enemies of God, Jesus died for us.

So, let me see if I can bring this home. Let's see how this might apply to us. I am hoping it would be safe to say that none of us fit the stereotypical version of the scribe of 33 A.D. However, truth be told, it seems highly unlikely that we are fulfilling Jesus' admonition to sacrificially give all we are to those who are undeserving. In actual fact, most of us are still tainted to some degree with at least some portion of the error of the scribes Jesus talked about. Rather than look at ourselves, the temptation we succumb to occasionally is to vilify the scribes, as if they are the most evil of all. The benefit of casting stones at the scribes is that we are not then compelled to enter into a personal and painful examination of our own pretending, our own desire for prestige, and for ways that we plunder our own neighbors.

Here are some things I wonder about in my own life. Perhaps they will help with your own personal examination as we consider the scribes. You will note in these questions that they do not necessarily have to be specifically religious or spiritual in nature.
1.Are there times when I pretend to know the answer to a question or a problem when I am only guessing? I really do that sometimes.
2.Are there times when I pretend to like something when I really do not? Sometimes it is hard to be completely honest.
3.Do I feel pretty good about the amount I contribute to the church offering? Should I pat myself on the back?
4.Are there times I feel slighted when someone did not recognize me properly, or even introduce me?
5.Are there times when I become angry when I was not given credit for the work I did? I do get angry if someone gets sole credit for a project I spent a lot of time on.
6.Are there times when I have paid a lot less for something than it was worth – because a neighbor had to liquidate to raise some cash?
7.Do I purchase items made or produced by people in other countries who are being paid a pittance.

That's the examination portion to see if there are ways in which we resemble the scribes. Maybe we are a little like the scribes. Ouch, that hurt a little.

Now, let's examine our own life as a disciple. This is the other side of the coin.

1.Do I give sacrificially to others who don't really deserve it? Usually, if I don't think they deserve it, I just don't give them anything.
2.Do I give sacrificially, with a glad heart? Sometimes, when I do things for Beth, “glad” is not always the word that describes my heart.
3.Do I give all of myself, even when it seems that the result will be failure? If I know a project will fail, I typically only give a partial effort.
4.Do I ever give to those I know cannot pay me back? I actually kind of enjoy doing this sometimes.

Oooooo! Ouch, again! This is way more than a stewardship sermon. So, maybe I'm not a completely sacrificing disciple of Jesus. The truth is that I have often been on spiritual auto pilot. I just keep doing what I have always done. I'm fortunate that I haven't been caught 150 miles past the Minneapolis airport. However, I have periodically done the spiritual equivalent.

You see, in the same way that the widow gave all that she had for a corrupt and doomed temple system, in the same way that Jesus gave all that he had for a corrupt and doomed world, we are being called to give all that we have to the poor, the powerless, the weak, the voiceless, the sick, the disenfranchised, the atheists, the disabled, the unemployed, the gays, the abortionists, the Wall Street executive, the Taliban, the terrorists, the Jews, the Muslims, the Hindus, the Black, the Asian, the Arab and the Sudanese, and those who are not like us – precisely because there was a guy by the name of Jesus that gave all of himself for me: full of failure, completely and pervasively sinful, undeserving in every way, and devoid of the ability to love.

Because of Jesus, I am free. Because of Jesus I am free to reach out to others.